[Music] Lindsay’s Favourite Brazilian Songs

To commemorate two years of living in Brazil, I’m sharing my favourite songs from this wonderful country.  I adore Brazilian music, in its many forms and styles, particularly bossa nova, samba, pagode, and MPB(Popular Brazilian Music).  I feel I’ve only scratched the surface – there is so much more yet to discover – but this list is a start.  If you like new, good music, have a listen to my playlist of twenty songs from different genres of Brazilian music.

We have Natiruts, a talented reggae-pop group who filmed an entire concert on top of a mountain in Rio(it’s nice to watch as well as to listen!), Djavan, my current personal favourite, Tom Jobim, one of the fathers of bossa nova, and many other past and present artists and bands: Seu Jorge, Marisa Monte, Skank, Ferrugem, Max de Castro, Jair de Oliveira, Tim Maia, Axel Bahia, Vanessa de Mata, and Tribalistas.

Listen Here:

Here’s an overview of the songs:

1. Quero Ser Feliz Também/Natiruts: “I Want to be Happy Too”
2. Liberdade Pra Dentro Da Cabeça/Natiruts: “Freedom to the Inside of the Mind”
3. Doidice/Djavan: “Folly”
4. Maçã/Djavan: “Apple”
5. Chega de Saudade/Tom Jobim: “No More Loneliness”
6. Aguas de Março/Tom Jobim e Elis Regina: “Waters of March”
7. Carolina/Seu Jorge
8. Ainda Lembro/Marisa Monte: “I Still Remember”
9. O Pato/Emilie-Claire Barlow: “The Duck” (This singer is Canadian, not Brazilian, but the song is Brazilian and I just love her version)
10. Resposta/Skank: “Answer”
11. Te Ver/Skank: “To See You” (To see you and to not want you/ it’s unlikely, it’s impossible/ To have you and to have to forget you/ It’s unbearable, it’s incredible pain)
12. Embola Bola/Djavan: “Tangled Ball”
13. Mas Que Nada/Tamba Trio: “But Nothing” – I’m confident you will all have heard this song.  It’s definitely in the first Austin Powers film.  Wonderful song.
14. Climatizar/Ferrugem: This pagode song has a lovely happy sound.  I’m not really sure if the lyrics are good but I like listening to it!
15. O Nego do Cabelo Bom/Max de Castro: “The Black Guy with Good Hair” (yes, really)
16. Tiro Onda/Jair de Oliveira: “Take a Wave” – It is impossible not to dance listening to this song.  I love it.
17. Que Beleza/Tim Maia: “What Beauty” – classic song from the 70s
18. Danza da Mãozinha/Axle Bahia: “Little Hand Dance” – I included this song in one of my Zumba routines once.  It’s a fun song from the “Axé” genre
19. Não Me Deixe Só/Vanessa da Mata: “Don’t Leave Me Alone”
20. Velha Infância/Tribalistas: “Old Childhood”- This is one of the first Brazilian songs I was introduced to by my wonderful friend Annelise on my first trip to Floripa!  I love to belt out the chorus.

And if you’re craving more after that, I recommend all of the Putumayo Brazil CDs, some of which are on Youtube:

What would you add to the list?

You may also enjoy my other playlists: